I was all set to buy one of those new front-lit ereaders this year (probably a Kobo Glo). It would have been used in addition to my Sony 350, no way am I parting with that. In the end a bought an iPad Mini. I can read ALL my books on it, rather than splitting literature and textbook PDFs across devices.

I admit that reading about problems with the light technology on these new class of readers didn't help. I can still see me using my Sony but it will be for reading outside or on holiday, not having to charge it every night is definitely an advantage. The only feature that could make me upgrade the Sony is wifi, but given where I'd be using it even that doesn't seem so much of a draw now.

Basically, an ereader is a single purpose device, mine still does the job so I won't upgrade it. I'm not surprised they're seeing a sales dip.

Unfortunately the trend that companies want to see now is to have consumers upgrade their gadgets yearly.

Amazon, at least, seems innocent of making older devices obsolete.

More than two years after release, there was a Kindle Keyboard software update for compatibility with the new KF8 book format. And AFAIK (please correct me if wrong), newly published books sold by Amazon still work on the original 2007 Kindles. Plus, after more than 5 years, those original Kindles still have unlimited free cell-phone network internet for text-based web sites like twp.com (Washington Post mobile).

The eInk Kindle browser degraded about two months ago because the service that allows easy font size control (www.readingthenet.com) is down until later this month, per programmer Robin Gardner. But that's not Amazon. My periodical subscriptions through Amazon (New York Times Latest News Blog; Atlantic Monthly) work the same as ever.

I don't know about other brands of eReaders. Are manufactures doing anything to make them obsolete?

Now, if someone wants to replace this year's model with last year's, no automaker, or tech company, is going to stop them.

I like my PRS650 and don't see a need to buy a new ereader until it dies. But also I got a tablet now which allows me to read pdfs or other documents for work and get books from Amazon. Both have their uses.

1- The core eink technology didn't change for two-plus years until the KPW and Kobo Glo came out in november.
2- Nobody is supporting any significant improvements in ebook content on dedicated readers (no, drop caps and typographical tricks don't enable new content availability).
3- Existing readers work fine, the batteries still hold charge, and with decent care don't break easy.
4- The percentage of the population that can take advantage of dedicated readers is closer to 30% than 100%.
5- With dedicated readers in the hands of 20% of the population (two-thirds of their natural audience) replacement sales are as big a sales driver as young people picking up the reading habit and older people learning to appreciate digital readers.

Anybody who has actually used a dedicated reader for a while can add those up and expect a slowdown in dedicated devices right about now. Especially in view of #4.

Doesn't mean ebook adoption is going to slow down as much because multifunction devices such as smartphones and tablets can bring the benefits of ebook reading to casual readers who can't justify buying a dedicated device but are getting a phone or tablet for other reasons. But its going to take a *lot* of multifunction devices to drive ebook sales as much as a typical dedicated device does. Probably about 10-20 to one.

So dedicated devices will still be the core of the ebook retail world; they just won't be the totality.

The naysayers simply ignore the fact that dedicated readers totally exploded in the 2010-11 timeframe and crammed an entire generation of adoption into a calendar year or so. Until new tech or attrition starts a new, upgrade and replacement-driven boom, the big money is going to be in serving ebooks to the installed base. And that is money that will filter in, day-by-day over the entire year, not in one big seasonal buy.

Until new tech or attrition starts a new, upgrade and replacement-driven boom, the big money is going to be in serving ebooks to the installed base. And that is money that will filter in, day-by-day over the entire year, not in one big seasonal buy.

That's where the money already is. Amazon make next to no profit on the sale of an eInk Kindle (they're sold essentially at cost price); it's content sales that make money.

More than two years after release, there was a Kindle Keyboard software update for compatibility with the new KF8 book format. And AFAIK (please correct me if wrong), newly published books sold by Amazon still work on the original 2007 Kindles. Plus, after more than 5 years, those original Kindles still have unlimited free cell-phone network internet for text-based web sites like twp.com (Washington Post mobile).

The eInk Kindle browser degraded about two months ago because the service that allows easy font size control (www.readingthenet.com) is down until later this month, per programmer Robin Gardner. But that's not Amazon. My periodical subscriptions through Amazon (New York Times Latest News Blog; Atlantic Monthly) work the same as ever.

I don't know about other brands of eReaders. Are manufactures doing anything to make them obsolete?

Now, if someone wants to replace this year's model with last year's, no automaker, or tech company, is going to stop them.

Nice summary highlighting that the idea of dedicated readers is to sell ebooks.

Yes, new Kindle releases still work with first-gen kindles *and* apps; they even have a mechanism in place that serves mobi7 files to old devices and apps but KF8 to the newer ones. (If you have a new Kindle and an old one you you might even see a clear diffeence in the layout.) When Amazon introduced KF8 they looked at the hardware in their readers and drew a line between the ones that had the capability to offer a good experience rendering KF8 and those that probably wouldn't (shades of gray in the screen, CPU power, etc). But they have not abandoned early adopters nor have they gone out of their way to force people to upgrade. They figure that normal attrition and the annual incremental improvements in newer models will suffice?

Other vendors?
Well, Sony is notorious for *not* updating the firmware of their readers but they have offered up the occasional bug fix for their last two models. Nook has an ongoing war with hackers so they issue regular updates with bug fixes and tweaks in addition to blocking the hackers' exploits.
Kobo still runs a firmware of the month operation so *their* readers actually get better with time; I understand that year-old readers actually perform close to their originally advertised spec.

So, no; I don't think planned obsolescence is prevalent in the dedicated reader business. Though I do think we should start to see a wave of dead battery-driven upgrades at some point. But with a typical rechargeable battery being good for 300 recharge cycles and 30 honest hours of use it takes a long time to rack up the 7000 hours of use where batteries become an issue.

(Four-plus years at 4 hours a day might do it. So early K2 should start hitting the wall this year.)

One advantage of the content-driven walled-gardens is that the vendor benefits as much as the buyer from device durability.

That's where the money already is. Amazon make next to no profit on the sale of an eInk Kindle (they're sold essentially at cost price); it's content sales that make money.

Oh, they make a sight profit; enough to keep the antitrust types at bay. But it is volume driven and if volumes drop...
Doesn't bode well for the hardware-only folks. And those were on the sidelines already.

So, no; I don't think planned obsolescence is prevalent in the dedicated reader business. Though I do think we should start to see a wave of dead battery-driven upgrades at some point. But with a typical rechargeable battery being good for 300 recharge cycles and 30 honest hours of use it takes a long time to rack up the 7000 hours of use where batteries become an issue.

There's two factors which affect the capacity of lithium battery: number of charge cycles is one, but simple ageing is a more significant one. When a lithium battery is first charged, the clock starts ticking; a 3-year-old battery will typically have lost a third of its original capacity; after 5 years it'll probably be completely dead. Many people with older readers like the Sony PRS-505 or the original Kindle have certainly run into battery issues already.

So there you have it. The decline of ereader sales is due to the fact that we prefer "mindless entertainment" over "cultural consumption"

OMG what a silly comment; the move from dedicated ereaders to tablets has nothing to do with "mindless entertainment" over "cultural consumption". the fact is people are becoming smarter and realizing that a seven inch tablet not only lets you read your books with total freedom but permits that you can read your emails, check your tuittes, check the news and a 101 other things with one gadget. dedicated ereaders were a simple marketing ploy and were great at the time; there was no other real option. i still have my kindle 3 but there is very little chance of going back to it after experiencing the freedom of my Tab 2 7. And with such great ereader apps such as FBreader and Coolreader....onward !!

OMG what a silly comment; the move from dedicated ereaders to tablets has nothing to do with "mindless entertainment" over "cultural consumption". the fact is people are becoming smarter and realizing that a seven inch tablet not only lets you read your books with total freedom but permits that you can read your emails, check your tuittes, check the news and a 101 other things with one gadget. dedicated ereaders were a simple marketing ploy and were great at the time; there was no other real option. i still have my kindle 3 but there is very little chance of going back to it after experiencing the freedom of my Tab 2 7. And with such great ereader apps such as FBreader and Coolreader....onward !!

Many people here (myself included) would disagree with your assertion that a tablet is an equally good reader as an eInk reader. I certainly don't think it is. Like you, I have a Galaxy Tab 2 7", but I use it for very different things than I use my Kindle PW for. I read on my Kindle; I surf the web, watch video, etc, on the Tab.

As has been said before, it doesn't have to be an "either/or" decision. Many people own both a tablet AND an eInk reader. The eInk device will always be much more comfortable to read on for me, and the weeks-long battery life means that I don't have to recharge it every day.

Many people here (myself included) would disagree with your assertion that a tablet is an equally good reader as an eInk reader. I certainly don't think it is. Like you, I have a Galaxy Tab 2 7", but I use it for very different things than I use my Kindle PW for. I read on my Kindle; I surf the web, watch video, etc, on the Tab.

Indeed... I own both Kindles and an iPad. The Kindles are for reading and the iPad is for the Internet. They both are their place, but they are not interchangeable.

As has been said before, it doesn't have to be an "either/or" decision. Many people own both a tablet AND an eInk reader. The eInk device will always be much more comfortable to read on for me, and the weeks-long battery life means that I don't have to recharge it every day.

Phones, tablets, and eink readers can coexist fine (as long as your budget holds up ) in a personal e-reading system.